Width and lengthwise direction tape printing control device and program

ABSTRACT

A print image of a character string to be printed on a print tape, rotated counterclockwise from the lengthwise direction of the print tape by 90 degrees to be arranged in the width direction of the print tape, is generated (S 450 ). The print image is repetitively arranged sequentially in the lengthwise direction of the print tape (S 470 ) and thereby label printing is executed (S 480 ). Subsequently (S 500 ), a normal print image of the character string arranged in the lengthwise direction of the print tape is generated (S 430 ) and label printing of the normal print image is executed (S 480 ).

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a tape printing device and a programwhich are used for printing a character string on a tape-like printmedium.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Tape printing devices, capable of printing a character string on a printtape made of an adhesive print sheet (with an adhesive agent previouslyapplied on its back) and a releasable sheet which are bonded together tobe releasable, are well known. The tape printing devices of this typeare widely used for office use, home use, etc. because of their highusability allowing users to print a title, caption, etc. on the surfaceof a print sheet easily and beautifully. After printing a title,caption, etc. on the print tape, a user peels the print sheet away fromthe releasable sheet and sticks the print sheet (i.e. a label) on thespine of a file, videotape, etc.

Meanwhile, with the progress of computers and network technologies ofrecent years, there are many situations where numbers of plugs at endsof cables are plugged into numbers of sockets of a device. As a way toprevent faulty wiring in such cases, it is effective to put a label(with a character string printed thereon for identification) on eachcable to be plugged into a socket.

Japanese Patent Provisional Publication No.HEI06-247431 (pages 5–7,Table 1) (hereinafter referred to as a “document #1”) has proposed atape printing device which can set a necessary “wound part” in a labelto be wound around a cable and print identical character strings onparts of the label outside the wound part in the lengthwise direction ofthe print tape. By winding the label (after being printed on by the tapeprinting device) around the cable while sticking its both ends together,the user can more surely recognize a socket into which the cable shouldbe plugged.

However, when such a label printed on by the tape printing device of thedocument #1 is stuck on a cable, the part(s) printed with the characterstrings protrudes from the cable and that deteriorates the usability ofthe cable.

As a device capable of avoiding the above problem, Japanese PatentProvisional Publication No.HE106-320826 (pages 5–10, FIG. 14)(hereinafter referred to as a “document #2”) has proposed a tapeprinting device which can print a character string while rotating itfrom the lengthwise direction of the print tape by 90 degrees, by whicha label having a character string printed in the width direction of theprint tape can be created. Further, by cutting the print tape to alength suitable for winding it around the cable, a label leaving no partprotruding from the cable can be created.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION

As described above, labels printed with character strings are generallyapplied on cables today in order to discriminate among a plurality ofcables. Applying an identification label on a cable helps the user torecognize and identify the cable. However, with the identification labelapplied on the cable only, the user is not necessarily able to insertthe plug of the cable into a correct socket. In order to increase theprobability of correct insertion of numbers of plugs at the ends ofcables into numbers of sockets, it is effective to further apply a label(printed with a character string identical with or similar to that onthe label stuck on the cable) on a part in the vicinity of the socket,in addition to the label stuck on the cable. Since the part in thevicinity of the socket (into which the plug is inserted) issubstantially flat, the label to be stuck on the part is desired to bean ordinary label on which the character string has been printed in thelengthwise direction of the print tape, differently from the label stuckon the cable. Therefore, it becomes necessary to create a label suitablefor being stuck on a cylindrical member like a cable and a label(printed with a character string identical with or similar to that onthe label stuck on the cylindrical member) suitable for being stuck on aflat part.

However, in order to create the label suitable for being stuck on acylindrical member like a cable (plug side) and the label suitable forbeing stuck on a flat part like a part in the vicinity of a socket(socket side) with the tape printing device proposed in the document #2,data editing and printing operation have to be carried out for each ofthe labels and such work is troublesome to users. Especially when agreat number of cables have to be connected to a line concentrator likea hub, multitudes of labels have to be printed with enormous labor ofthe user.

It is therefore the primary object of the present invention to provide atape printing control device and a program realizing the creation of alabel suitable for being stuck on a cylindrical member and a label(printed with a character string identical with or similar to that onthe label stuck on the cylindrical member) suitable for being stuck on aflat part by one printing operation.

In order to achieve the above object, a tape printing control deviceprovided by an aspect of the present invention comprises first storagemeans for storing a first character string to be printed on a tape-likeprint medium, first image generation means for generating a print imagein which the first character string stored in the first storage means isarranged in a width direction of the tape-like print medium, secondimage generation means for generating a print image in which the firstcharacter string stored in the first storage means is arranged in alengthwise direction of the tape-like print medium, and print controlmeans for executing print control so that the print image generated byone of the first and second image generation means will be printed onthe tape-like print medium first and thereafter the print imagegenerated by the other will be printed on the tape-like print medium.

By the printing control device configured as above, a label having acharacter string printed thereon in the width direction of the printtape and a label having the character string printed thereon in thelengthwise direction of the print tape can be created by only onecharacter string input and printing operation. Therefore, with theprinting control device, two labels that can be suitably stuck on acylindrical member like a network cable (plug side) and a flat part of adevice like a hub into which the network cable is plugged (socket side)can be created with ease.

A program provided by another aspect of the present invention causes acomputer to execute a first storage step for storing a first characterstring to be printed on a tape-like print medium, a first imagegeneration step for generating a print image in which the firstcharacter string stored by the first storage step is arranged in a widthdirection of the tape-like print medium, a second image generation stepfor generating a print image in which the first character string storedby the first storage step is arranged in a lengthwise direction of thetape-like print medium, and a print control step for executing printcontrol so that the print image generated by one of the first and secondimage generation steps will be printed on the tape-like print mediumfirst and thereafter the print image generated by the other will beprinted on the tape-like print medium.

By the program configured as above, a label having a character stringprinted thereon in the width direction of the print tape and a labelhaving the character string printed thereon in the lengthwise directionof the print tape can be created by only one character string input andprinting operation. Therefore, with the program, two labels that can besuitably stuck on a cylindrical member like a network cable (plug side)and a flat part of a device like a hub into which the network cable isplugged (socket side) can be created with ease.

Incidentally, such a program can be distributed to computers by storingthe program in a removable record medium like a CD-ROM, FD, MO, etc. ora fixed record medium like a hard disk, or via a communication networklike the Internet by use of a wired/wireless telecommunication means.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an external view of a tape printing device in accordance withan embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 shows examples of cable labels printed by the tape printingdevice of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the composition of a control systeminside the tape printing device of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an overall process executed by the tapeprinting device of FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a procedure of a print format settingexecuted by the tape printing device of FIG. 1.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a procedure of a print process executed bythe tape printing device of FIG. 1.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a procedure of a Type 1 cable labelprinting process executed by the tape printing device of FIG. 1.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing a procedure of a Type 2 cable labelprinting process executed by the tape printing device of FIG. 1.

FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram showing the combinations of settingscreens for cable label settings and cable label examples printed inresponse to the cable label settings in a table format.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

Referring now to the drawings, a description will be given in detail ofa preferred embodiment in accordance with the present invention.

FIG. 1 is an external view of a tape printing device 1 in accordancewith an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, thetape printing device 1 has a display 2 and a keyboard 3 which arearranged in a front part of its top surface. In the rear part of thetape printing device 1, a cover 101 is formed to be openable andclosable. Inside the cover 101, a cassette storage part provided with aprinting head 4 (see FIG. 3) is placed.

Print tape, as a print medium for the tape printing device 1, includes aprint sheet as a long tape-like print medium (having a print surface (onwhich characters, symbols, etc. are printed) on its front and anadhesive material layer on its back) and a releasable sheet (having areleasable surface processed with silicone resin, etc.) which arestacked up to be releasable. The print tape is rolled up and stored in atape cassette.

The tape cassette is loaded in the tape printing device 1 detachably. Ona lateral face of the tape cassette, a tape exposing part is formed inorder to expose the print tape for printing. The print tape inside thetape printing device 1 is pulled out from the tape cassette, printed onat the tape exposing part, and thereafter cut in an appropriate length.By peeling the print sheet (printed sheet) away from the releasablesheet, the user can use the print sheet as a label which can be stuck onan arbitrary object, article, etc.

The tape printing device 1 is capable of printing on the print tape invarious styles. The print styles include “normal printing” in which acharacter string is printed being arranged in the lengthwise directionof the print tape. Besides the normal printing, the tape printing device1 supports, for example, “cable wiring label printing”, in which acharacter string arranged in the width direction of the print tape isprinted and thereafter a character string arranged in the lengthwisedirection of the print tape is printed. By the cable wiring labelprinting, the user can obtain a combination of labels to be suitablystuck on a cable (plug side) and a device (socket side, to which thecable should be connected) by only one printing operation.

Next, a cable wiring label obtained by the cable wiring label printingby the tape printing device 1 (hereinafter referred to as a “cable label11”) will be explained below referring to FIG. 2. FIGS. 2( a) through2(e) show examples of the cable label 11 created by the tape printingdevice 1. As shown in FIGS. 2( a) through 2(e), the cable label 11includes a plug label 12 (part of FIG. 2( a) on the left side of thebroken line) suitable for being wound around and stuck on a cable (plugside) and a socket label 13 (part of FIG. 2( a) on the right side of thebroken line) suitable for being stuck on a flat part of a device (hub,line concentrator, etc.) in the vicinity of a socket to which the plugshould be connected. As will be explained in detail later, the number ofplug labels 12 and socket labels 13 forming the cable label 11, theorder of printing, the number of character strings printed on a label,etc. can be set in the tape printing device 1.

The plug label 12 is stuck on a part of a cable (having a plug) close tothe plug, by putting an end of the plug label 12 in its lengthwisedirection (in the lengthwise direction of the print tape) on the partand winding the plug label 12 around the cable.

On the plug label 12, a character string for identifying the cable(plug), rotated counterclockwise from the normal printing direction by90 degrees, is printed in the width direction of the print tape. FIG. 2(a) shows an example in which one character string for the identificationof the cable (plug) is printed on the plug label 12.

FIG. 2( b) shows an example in which a plurality of character stringsextending in the width direction are evenly arranged on the whole pluglabel 12 along the length of the print tape. In this case, the user canrecognize the printed character strings irrespective of the visual anglearound the cable.

The socket label 13 is a label to be stuck on a flat part of a device(hub, line concentrator, etc.) in the vicinity of a socket. On thesocket label 13, a character string is printed in the lengthwisedirection of the print tape similarly to the case of normal printing.Between the plug label 12 and the socket label 13 or between adjacentsocket labels 13 (when a plurality of socket labels 13 are printed), aboundary line 14 parallel to the width direction of the print tape isprinted (broken lines in FIGS. 2( a)–2(e)). Incidentally, it is alsopossible to provide the tape printing device 1 with an automatic cutterfunction to cut the print tape (full cut) or the print sheet only (halfcut) between the plug label 12 and the socket label 13, instead ofprinting the boundary lines as in FIGS. 2( a)–2(e).

The cable label 11 can be a Type 1 cable label in which the samecharacter string is printed both on the plug label 12 and on the socketlabel 13 (FIGS. 2( a)–2(d)) and a Type 2 cable label in which the socketlabel 13 is also printed with an extra character string which is addedto the common character string integrally (FIG. 2( e)). The order ofprinting of the plug label 12 and the socket label 13 varies dependingon a print setting in the tape printing device 1, and thus it is alsopossible to print the socket label 13 first as in the example of FIG. 2(c). Further, the cable label 11 is not limited to a combination of oneplug label 12 and one socket label 13, that is, plug labels 12 andsocket labels 13 can be printed in various combinations: 1 and 1, 1 andn, or n and n. FIGS. 2( a), 2(b), 2(c) and 2(e) show examples in whichone plug label 12 and one socket label 13 are printed, while FIG. 2( d)shows an example in which one plug label 12 and two socket labels 13 areprinted.

Next, the internal composition of the tape printing device 1 will bedescribed. FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the composition of acontrol system inside the tape printing device 1. The tape printingdevice 1 includes the display 2, the keyboard 3, the printing head 4 anda control unit 6. The display 2 is implemented by a well-known liquidcrystal display.

The keyboard 3 is placed on the top surface of the tape printing device1 (see FIG. 1). The keyboard 3 includes text keys for inputtingcharacters to be printed, cursor keys for moving a cursor, function keys(print key, etc.) for calling various functions of the tape printingdevice 1, etc.

The printing head 4 is installed in the cassette storage part of thetape printing device 1, at a position corresponding to the tape exposingpart formed on a lateral face of each tape cassette. On the printinghead 4, a number of heating elements electrically to be controlled bythe control unit 6 are arranged in the width direction of the print tape(a direction orthogonal to the lengthwise direction of the print tape).

The control unit 6 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 61, a ROM(Read Only Memory) 62, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 63, an interfaceunit 66 and a data bus 65. The CPU 61 executes calculations according tovarious commands. The ROM 62 stores programs for letting the CPU 61carry out processes shown in FIGS. 4 through 6 (for implementingfunctional modules shown in FIG. 3), graphic data such as font data ofcharacters and pattern data of frames for decorating printed characters,and various other data necessary for the execution of the programs. TheRAM 63 is a volatile memory for temporarily storing data which are usedby the CPU 61 for executing the programs.

The interface unit 66 is a connection part for electrically connectingthe control unit with devices as separate modules directly orindirectly. The data bus 65 is a group of data transmission lines forelectrically connecting the CPU 61, the ROM 62, the RAM 63 and theinterface unit 66 together. All the data transmission in the controlunit 6 is performed through the data bus 66.

Next, the functions of the tape printing device 1 will be described. Asshown in FIG. 3, a work area 631, a text area 632, a first storagemodule (first storage means) 633 and a second storage module (secondstorage means) 634 are formed in the RAM 63 of the tape printing device1. Meanwhile, a rotated image generation module (first image generationmeans) 611, a normal image generation module (second image generationmeans) 612, a print range setting module (print range setting means)613, a character size change module (character size change means) 614, aprint control module (print control means) 615, a print repetitionspecifying module (print repetition specifying means) 616 are includedin the CPU 61.

The work area 631 is a memory area for temporarily storing data that arenecessary when the CPU 61 executes various processes. The text area 632is a memory area for storing character string data when a characterstring is inputted and edited.

The text area 632 stores text data of a character string associated withinformation on the font shape, character size, character decoration,frames, etc., in units of blocks. The “block” means a unit ofinputting/editing a character string as an object of printing. Eachblock is set by use of a block change key as one of the function keys ofthe tape printing device 1. For setting a block, the user moves thecursor to a desired position in the inputted text and presses the blockchange key, by which a block change code is inserted at the end of thetext data stored in the text area 632 and thereafter the characterstring inputting/editing can be carried out for each data (block)sandwiched by the block change codes. In the tape printing device 1, thesettings of the print format and the print range can also be made inunits of blocks. For example, when the user designates printing of aplurality of blocks or repetitive printing of a particular block, theprinting of the block(s) is carried out successively in the lengthwisedirection of the print tape. When no block setting has been made, allthe character string on the input screen is regarded as one block.

When the cable wiring label printing has been designated, characterstring data of designated blocks are stored in the first storage module633 and the second storage module 634.

The rotated image generation module 611 of the CPU 61 generates a printimage of a character string (stored in the first storage module 633)rotated counterclockwise from the lengthwise direction of the print tapeby 90 degrees. The “print image” means image data spread in the workarea 631 of the RAM 63 based on the text data of the character string,the character size which has been set, the font shape, thepresence/absence of line decoration such as the character decoration(boldface, oblique face, etc.) and frames, as dot pattern data of ablock corresponding to actual print status of the block. The rotatedimage generation module 611 executes a coordinate transformationcalculation process for rotating the spread print image counterclockwiseby 90 degrees and stores the result in the RAM 63 again. For example,when the character string stored in the first storage module 633 is“ABCD”, a print image generated by the rotated image generation module611 is printed out as the character string in the plug label 12 shown inFIG. 2( a).

It is also possible to arrange a plurality of rotated character strings(rotated counterclockwise by 90 degrees) in a print range set by theprint range setting module 613 (explained later) along the length of theprint tape (hereinafter referred to as “sequential printing”). Forexample, when the character string stored in the first storage module633 is “ABCD”, the sequential printing of the character string gives aprint result as the plug label 12 shown in FIG. 2( b). The number ofrepetitions in the sequential printing may be designated by the user orcalculated automatically by the tape printing device 1 so that the wholeprint range will be printed with the character string “ABCD”sequentially. What type of print image should be generated out of theabove examples is determined according to the print format settings madeby the user (see FIG. 5).

The normal image generation module 612 generates a print image so thatthe character string stored in the first storage module 633 will bearranged in the lengthwise direction of the print tape. The normal imagegeneration module 612 is also capable of generating a combination(composite) print image by combining the character string stored in thefirst storage module 633 with a character string stored in the secondstorage module 634. For example, when the character string stored in thefirst storage module 633 is “ABCD” and the normal image generationmodule 612 generates a print image of the character string stored in thefirst storage module 633, the character string “ABCD” is printed alongthe length of the print tape as in the socket label 13 shown in FIG. 2(b). When the character strings stored in the first and second storagemodules 633 and 634 are “ABCD” and “1234” respectively and the normalimage generation module 612 generates a composite print image of thecharacter strings stored in the first and second storage modules 633 and634, the character strings “ABCD” and “1234” are printed in two lines inthe lengthwise direction of the print tape as in the socket label 13shown in FIG. 2( e). What type of print image should be generated out ofthe above examples is determined according to the print format settingsmade by the user (see FIG. 5).

Since two character strings combined together can be printed on thesocket label 13 (on which character strings are printed in thelengthwise direction of the print tape), a socket label 13, having anexplanatory comment, etc. thereon in addition to the character stringprinted on the label stuck on a cylindrical member (plug side), can becreated with ease.

The print range setting module 613 sets print ranges (in the lengthwisedirection of the print tape) for the print images generated by therotated image generation module 611 and the normal image generationmodule 612. By the setting of the print ranges, the lengths of blocks tobe printed (in the lengthwise direction of the print tape) aredetermined. The print range settings are made by the user in the printformat settings (see FIG. 5). Each print range is set in terms of thelength of a block to be printed. For the label part to be wound around acylindrical member, the print range may also be specified in terms ofthe diameter of the cylindrical member, instead of the length of theblock. In the case where the print range is set in terms of thediameter, the print range setting module 613 calculates the perimeter ofthe cylindrical member from the specified diameter and regards theperimeter as the print range.

Incidentally, the print range setting module 613 may also use a presetdefault value as the print range when no set value for the print rangeof a print image is given from outside.

Since the print ranges in the lengthwise direction of the print tape canbe set for both the print images generated by the rotated imagegeneration module 611 and the normal image generation module 612, theuser is allowed to create the labels in desired lengths.

The size change module 614 changes the size of the print image generatedby the rotated image generation module 611 or the normal imagegeneration module 612. The size change module 614 automatically adjuststhe print image size when the print image generated by the rotated imagegeneration module 611 or the normal image generation module 612 does notfit in the print range set by the print range setting module 613.Possible methods for the print image size adjustment include a methodgenerating the print image after adjusting the font size of eachcharacter. The methods for the print image size adjustment are notrestricted to this example. For example, the adjustment may also be madeby adjusting the character spacing or by directly compressing the printimage.

When the cable wiring label printing has been selected, the printcontrol module 615 carries out the print control so that a print imagegenerated by one of the rotated image generation module 611 and thenormal image generation module 612 will be printed first and thereaftera print image generated by the other will be printed. Therefore, by thefunction of the print control module 615, the print image generated bythe rotated image generation module 611 and the print image generated bythe normal image generation module 612 can be printed out by oneprinting operation while controlling the printing order of the printimages. For example, in a case where a print image generated by therotated image generation module 611 (implemented by the sequentialprinting of the character string “ABCD”) is printed first and thereaftera print image generated by the normal image generation module 612(including the character string “ABCD” arranged in the lengthwisedirection of the print tape) is printed, the character string “ABCD”rotated is printed sequentially on the left side of the broken line(boundary line) 14 and the character string “ABCD” in the normaldirection is printed on the right side of the broken line (boundaryline) 14 as shown in FIG. 2( b). When the printing order is setreversely, the character string “ABCD” is printed normally on the leftside of the broken line (boundary line) 14 and the character string“ABCD” rotated is printed sequentially on the right side of the brokenline (boundary line) 14 as shown in FIG. 2( c). The order of printing isdetermined according to the print format settings made by the user (seeFIG. 5).

The print repetition specifying module 616 specifies the number ofprintings (the number of times of printing) for both the print imagesgenerated by the rotated image generation module 611 and the normalimage generation module 612. For example, in a case where the number ofprintings of the print image generated by the rotated image generationmodule 611 (implemented by the sequential printing of the characterstring “ABCD”) is 1 and that of the print image generated by the normalimage generation module 612 (implemented by the normal printing of thecharacter string “ABCD”) is 2, the character strings “ABCD” rotated areprinted in a left-hand side part (out of the parts partitioned by brokenlines 14) and the character string “ABCD” is printed normally in themiddle part and in the right-hand side part as shown in FIG. 2( d). Thenumber of printings is specified in the print format settings (see FIG.5).

Next, processes to be executed by the tape printing device 1 of thisembodiment will be described referring to FIGS. 4 through 8. Theprocesses are carried out under the control by the CPU 61.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a process for the overall control of thetape printing device 1 (main flow). The tape printing device 1 startsoperating when the power is turned on. First, in a step S110(hereinafter abbreviated as “S110”, ditto for the following steps), thewhole tape printing device 1 is initialized. Specifically, the operationcheck and initialization of the CPU 61, the RAM 63 and the interface 66,the operation check of the display 2 and the printing head 4 connectedto the interface 66, and the initialization of hardware are carried out.If no abnormality is found, the data stored in the RAM 63 and eachfunctional module are initialized. After the initialization is finished,the CPU 61 displays an operation screen on the display 2. Next, theprocess advances to S120.

In S120, the CPU 61 waits for a key input by the user. The user caninput text data to be stored in the text area 632 and operate the tapeprinting device 1 by making key inputs through the keyboard 3 whileseeing a screen displayed on the display 2. The tape printing device 1after the initialization stays on standby in a state allowing characterinputs, in which the user can input characters and symbols to be printedout by pressing the text keys arranged on the keyboard 3. Even in theinput standby state, the user can call various functions by pressing afunction key such as a print key. When a key is pressed by the user, akey code corresponding to the pressed key is stored. Next, the processadvances to S130.

In S130, the CPU 61 judges whether the key pressed in S120 is a text keybased on the key code corresponding to the key. If the key is a text key(S130: YES), the CPU 61 executes a text input process (S140). The textinput process means a process for obtaining a text code corresponding tothe key code stored in S120 and storing the text code in the text area632. After the text input process is finished, the process returns toS120 and the CPU 61 waits for a key input by the user.

If the key pressed in S120 is not a text key (S130: NO), the CPU 61judges whether the key pressed in S120 is the print key (S150). If thekey is the print key (S150: YES), the CPU 61 executes a print formatsetting which is shown in a flowchart of FIG. 5 (S160). The print formatsetting is a process for setting the format of characters in theprinting, style or appearance as printed matter, etc. These settings canbe made by the user. After the print format setting (S160) is finished,the process advances to S170 and a print process shown in a flowchart ofFIG. 6 is executed. After the print process is finished, the processreturns to S120 and the CPU 61 waits for a key input by the user.

If the key pressed in S120 is not a print key (S150: NO), the processadvances to S180 and the CPU 61 executes other processes. The “otherprocesses” include processes corresponding to functions keys other thanthe print key, processes corresponding to the cursor keys, etc. Afterthe “other processes” are finished, the process returns to S120 and theCPU 61 waits for a key input by the user. The control system is ended byturning a power switch of the tape printing device 1 “OFF”.

The procedure of the print format setting to be executed in S160 of FIG.4 will be explained below referring to FIG. 5. FIG. 5 is a flowchartshowing the procedure of the print format setting. As mentioned above,the print format setting is a process for setting the format ofcharacters in the printing, style or appearance as printed matter, etc.The print format setting is carried out in units of blocks. In theprocess of FIG. 5, the print format setting is executed for data of ablock that is currently displayed on the screen.

When the print format setting is started, the block print range settingby the print range setting module 613 is executed first (S210). In S210,the length of the block to be printed out is set. In the next S220, ablock print format setting is executed, in which the print style of theblock is set. The print style can be selected from various optionsdepending on the purpose. Whether to create the cable label 11 (as acable wiring label) is also determined in this step. When the user hasselected the cable wiring label printing as the print style of the blockto be printed out, setting items for the cable label 11 are also set inthis step. After the block print format setting is finished, the processadvances to S230.

Here, the settings for the cable label will be explained below referringto a table of FIG. 9. FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram showing thecombinations of setting screens for the cable label settings (columnC10) and cable label examples to be printed in response to the cablelabel settings (column C2) in a table format. As shown in each cell inthe setting screen column C10 of FIG. 9, a cursor “>>” is displayed onthe left of a setting item currently selected. The user can select anitem by moving the cursor among the items by pressing the up/down cursorkeys and change the setting of the selected item by pressing theright/left cursor keys.

As indicated with reference characters K1–K3 in FIG. 9, there are threecable label setting items.

The first item (with the reference character K1) is an item for settingwhether to carry out the sequential printing of the character string forthe plug label 12 in the whole print range set in the block print rangesetting by the print range setting module 613. In the setting item, theuser selects “NO SEQUENTIAL PRINTING” (see a setting A1 in FIG. 9) whenthe sequential printing is unnecessary, or selects “SEQUENTIAL PRINTING”(see a setting B1 in FIG. 9) when the sequential printing is necessary.As shown in FIG. 9, a mark (double circle) is put on the selected item.

The second item (with the reference character K2) is an item forspecifying the contents of the character string to be printed on thesocket label 13. The user selects “TYPE A” in order to select the Type 1cable label in which the socket label 13 is printed with the samecharacter string as that on the plug label 12 (see the setting B1 inFIG. 9) or “TYPE B” in order to select the Type 2 cable label in whichthe socket label 13 is printed with an extra character string inaddition to the character string on the plug label 12 (see a setting C1in FIG. 9). In the case where “TYPE B” is selected, a character stringinputted to a block next to the current block (for which the cable labelsettings are made) is used as the extra character string to be printedon the socket label 13. In other words, a block at the time of the cablelabel settings is regarded as the block for the plug label 12 and thenext block is regarded as the block for the socket label 13.

The third item (with the reference character K3) is an item for lettingthe print control module 615 set the printing order of the plug label 12and the socket label 13. The user selects “PLUG LABEL FIRST” when he/shehopes to create a cable label 11 having the plug label 12 and the socketlabel 13 printed in this order (see the setting B1 in FIG. 9) or “SOCKETLABEL FIRST” when he/she hopes to create a cable label 11 having thesocket label 13 and the plug label 12 printed in this order (see asetting Dl in FIG. 9). The text area 632 is provided with a flag PA forstoring the printing order of the plug label 12 and the socket label 13.The flag PA is set to “0” when the plug label 12 is to be printed firstor “1” when the socket label 13 is to be printed first.

In S230, block print repetition is specified. The block print repetitionmeans the number of printings of each block. In the case where the Type1 cable label has been selected in the cable label settings, thecharacter string to be printed on the plug label 12 and the socket label13 has been inputted to one block; however, the block is imaginarilyrecognized in this step as two separate blocks and the number ofprintings is set separately for each of the blocks. Meanwhile, in theType 2 cable label, the plug label 12 and the socket label 13 formindependent blocks and thus the number of printings is set separatelyfor each of the blocks. After the setting is finished, the process inthe flowchart of FIG. 5 is ended and the control returns to S170 of theflowchart of FIG. 4. In this case, the character string data of theblock to be printed on the plug label 12 is copied from the text memory632 to the first storage module 633 when the cable label settings havebeen made. When the “combination” has been specified, the characterstring data in a block next to the block to be printed on the plug label12 is copied from the text memory 632 to the second storage module 634.

The procedure of the print process to be executed in S170 of FIG. 4 willbe explained below referring to FIG. 6. FIG. 6 is a flowchart showingthe procedure of the print process. The print process is executed forthe block for which the aforementioned print format setting has beencarried out. First, in S310, whether the print style set in S220 of FIG.5 is the cable wiring label printing is judged. If the print style isthe cable wiring label printing (S310: YES), the process advances toS320 and the CPU 61 reads out the text data from the first storagemodule 633 to the work area 631 of the RAM 63. In the next S330, the CPU61 judges whether the print type is the Type 1 cable label printing. Ifthe print type is the Type 1 cable label printing (S330: YES), a Type 1cable label printing process shown in FIG. 7 is executed (S340). AfterS340 is finished, the process returns to S120 of the flowchart of FIG.4. On the other hand, if the print type is not judged to be the Type 1cable label printing (S330: NO), the process advances to S350 and theCPU 61 executes a Type 2 cable label printing process shown in FIG. 8.After S350 is finished, the process returns to S120 of the flowchart ofFIG. 4.

If the print style is not judged to be the cable wiring label printingin S310 (S310: NO), the process advances to S360 and the CPU 61 readsout the text data as the object of printing from the text area 632 tothe RAM 63 (S360). Subsequently, the CPU 61 generates a print image(made of dot pattern data) in the work area 631 of the RAM 63 from thetext data according to necessary information as the character size, fontshape, etc (S370). Thereafter, the CPU 61 carries out the printing onthe print tape by driving the printing head 4, etc. in S380. After theprinting in S380 is finished, the process returns to S120 of theflowchart of FIG. 4.

Next, the procedure of the Type 1 cable label printing process to beexecuted in S340 of FIG. 6 will be explained below referring to FIG. 7.FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the procedure of the Type 1 cable labelprinting process. First, in S410, whether to execute rotated printing isjudged. The judgment on the rotated printing is made based on the flagPA, that is, the rotated printing is executed when the flag PA is “0”while not executed when the flag PA is “1”. If the flag PA is “1” (ifthe rotated printing is not executed) (S410: NO), the CPU 61 makes asize adjustment by adjusting the character size so that the print imagewill fit in the print range set by the print range setting module 613(S420). In the next S430, a normal print image (in which the characterstring is arranged in the lengthwise direction of the print tape) isgenerated by the normal image generation module 612 of the CPU 61(S430). Thereafter, the process advances to S480.

If the flag PA is judged to be “0” in S410, that is, when the rotatedprinting is executed (S410: YES), the process advances to S440 and thecharacter size is adjusted so that the print image will fit in the printrange set by the print range setting module 613 (S440). In the nextS450, a rotated print image (in which the character string is rotatedcounterclockwise from the lengthwise direction of the print tape by 90degrees) is generated by the rotated image generation module 611. In thenext S460, whether to execute the sequential printing in the rotatedprinting is judged. When the sequential printing is not executed (S460:NO), the process advances to S480. When the sequential printing isexecuted (S460: YES), a character string part of the generated printimage is repeatedly arranged sequentially and evenly along the length ofthe print tape in the print range set by the print range setting module613. Thereafter, the process advances to S480.

In S480, the printing of the print image is carried out. In the nextS490, whether the printing has been finished for the number of timesspecified by the print repetition specifying module 616 is judged. Ifthe printing for the specified number of times has not been finished yet(S490: NO), a boundary line 14 is printed (S491) and the process returnsto S480 to repeat the printing. If the printing for the specified numberof times has been finished (S490: YES), the process advances to S500 andthe CPU 61 judges whether both the plug label 12 and the socket label 13of the cable label have been printed. If there is a label that has notbeen printed yet (S500: YES), the CPU 61 inverts the flag PA (from “0”to “1” or from “1” to “0”) and prints a boundary line 14 again (S501).Thereafter, the process returns to S410 and the CPU 61 judges whether toexecute the rotated printing for the next label. If it is judged thatthere remains no label yet to be printed (S500: NO), the Type 1 cablelabel printing process of the flowchart of FIG. 7 is ended and theprocess returns to S120 of the flowchart of FIG. 4.

Next, the procedure of the Type 2 cable label printing process to beexecuted in S350 of FIG. 6 will be explained below referring to FIG. 8.FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the procedure of the Type 2 cable labelprinting process. First, in S610, whether to execute rotated printing isjudged. The combination cable label also includes a plug label 12 (madeby the rotated printing) and a socket label 13 (made by the normalprinting) similarly to the Type 1 cable label. Which label is printedfirst is determined according to the flag PA which has been set in theblock print format setting (S220 in the flowchart of FIG. 5).

If the flag PA is judged to be “1” in S610 (if the rotated printing isnot executed) (S610: NO), the CPU 61 reads out the text data stored inthe second storage module 634 (S660). In the case of the Type 2 cablelabel, part of the character string to be printed on the socket label 13has been stored in the second storage module 634, therefore, the parthas to be read out from the second storage module 634. In the next S670,the CPU 61 adjusts the character size so that a print image made of thetext data previously read out from the first storage module 633 and thetext data read out from the second storage module 634 will fit in theprint range set by the print range setting module 613. In the next S680,a normal print image, in which the character string read out from thesecond storage module 634 is arranged under the character string readout from the first storage module 633, is generated by the normal imagegeneration module 612. Thereafter, the process advances to S690.

If the flag PA is judged to be “0” in S610, that is, when the rotatedprinting is executed (S610: YES), the character size of the characterstring read out from the first storage module is adjusted so that theprint image made of the character string will fit in the print range setby the print range setting module 613. In the next S630, a rotated printimage (in which the character string is rotated counterclockwise fromthe lengthwise direction of the print tape by 90 degrees) is generatedby the rotated image generation module 611. In the next S640, whether toexecute the sequential printing in the rotated printing is judged. Whenthe sequential printing is not executed (S640: NO), the process advancesto S690. When the sequential printing is executed (S640: YES), theprocess advances to S650 and a character string part of the generatedprint image is repeatedly arranged sequentially and evenly along thelength of the print tape in the print range set by the print rangesetting module 613. Thereafter, the process advances to S690.

In S690, the printing of the print image is carried out. Thereafter, theprocess advances to S700 and whether the printing has been finished forthe number of times specified by the print repetition specifying module616 is judged. If the printing for the specified number of times has notbeen finished yet (S700: NO), a boundary line 14 is printed (S701) andthe process returns to S690 to repeat the printing. If the printing forthe specified number of times has been finished (S700: YES), the processadvances to S710 and whether both the plug label 12 and the socket label13 of the cable label have been printed is judged. If there is a labelthat has not been printed yet (S710: YES), the CPU 61 inverts the flagPA (from “0” to “1” or from “1” to “0”) and prints a boundary line 14again (S711). Thereafter, the process returns to S610 and whether toexecute the rotated printing for the next label is judged. If thereremains no label yet to be printed (S710: NO), the Type 2 cable labelprinting process of the flowchart of FIG. 8 is ended and the processreturns to S120 of the flowchart of FIG. 4.

As described above, by printing the plug label 12 and the socket label13 side by side with the rotated image generation module 611, the normalimage generation module 612 and the print control module 616, a cablelabel 11 as a combination of the plug label 12 and the socket label 13can be created in one printing operation. Therefore, the user isreleased from the trouble of creating separate labels to be stuck on aplug and a socket (printed with the same or similar character stringsarranged in the width direction and the lengthwise direction of theprint tape, respectively) and the efficiency of label making isincreased. Further, since the print repetition specifying module 616allows a plurality of plug labels 12 and/or socket labels 13 to beprinted in a cable label 11, the same effects can be achieved even incases where one plug corresponds to two sockets, one socket correspondsto two plugs, etc.

Moreover, since the label length can be set separately for the pluglabel 12 and the socket label 13 with the print range setting module613, cable labels that can be applied to cylindrical members, flatmembers, etc. of various sizes can be created. When the plug label 12printed with a plurality of character strings arranged sequentially andevenly in the set print range is stuck on a cylindrical member such as acable, the user can recognize the printed character strings irrespectiveof the visual angle around the cylindrical member. The character stringon each label is adjusted to a proper character size by the size changemodule 614, by which fine-looking labels can be created.

While the above description has been given of a preferred embodiment inaccordance with the present invention, the present invention is not tobe restricted by the above particular illustrative embodiment. Variousmodifications, design changes, etc. can be made to the embodimentwithout departing from the scope and spirit of the present inventiondescribed in the appended claims. For example, while the rotation of thecharacter string is restricted to the 90-degree counterclockwiserotation in the above embodiment, it is possible to allow rotation ofany desired angle.

While the print range setting module 613 in the above embodiment isconfigured to set the print ranges for both the print images generatedby the rotated image generation module 611 and the normal imagegeneration module 612, either or both of the print ranges may be setconstant.

While the print image for the sequential printing is generated byarranging a plurality of identical print images in the above embodiment,it is also possible to generate one print image of character stringspreviously arranged for a plurality of lines.

While the tape printing device in the above embodiment is configured toadjust the size of each print image by the size change module 614, thetape printing device may also be configured to simply inform the user ofan error when the print image does not fit in the print range, withoutemploying the adjustment function.

While the data stored in the first and second storage modules 633 and634 are text data in the above embodiment, the data are not restrictedto text data. For example, image data generated by an external computermay be imported via a communication line, etc. and stored in the firstand second storage modules 633 and 634.

While the tape printing device of the above embodiment is configured tobe able to print two types of cable labels (Type 1 cable label, Type 2cable label), the tape printing device is not restricted to thisconfiguration. For example, the tape printing device may support onlyone type arbitrarily selected from the two types.

While the character strings to be printed out are processed in units ofblocks in the above embodiment, the character strings may also beprocessed in units of other inputting/editing units as lines.

While the character strings stored in the first and second storagemodules 633 and 634 are combined with each other and printed on thesocket label 13 in the Type 2 cable label printing in the aboveembodiment, the socket label 13 may also be printed with the characterstring stored in the second storage module only.

While the tape printing device in the above embodiment is a device of astand-alone type having the control unit incorporated in the tapeprinting device 1, the type of the tape printing device is not limitedto the stand-alone type. For example, part or all of the control unitmay also be implemented by a personal computer which is connected to thetape printing device 1 via an interface.

The procedure of each process described in the above embodiment can beimplemented by a program which is executed by a computer. Such a programcan be stored in record media of various types (flexible discs, CD-ROMs,etc.) in a format readable and executable by a computer.

It is to be appreciated that the above description of the embodiment hasbeen given by way of illustration and the present invention is not to berestricted by the particular illustrative embodiment but to beunderstood based on the description of the appended claims.

1. A tape printing control device comprising: a first memory that storesa first character string to be printed on a tape-like print medium; afirst image generator that generates a print image in which the firstcharacter string stored in the first memory is arranged in a widthdirection of the tape-like print medium; a second image generator thatgenerates a print image in which the first character string stored inthe first memory is arranged in a lengthwise direction of the tape-likeprint medium; and a print controller that executes print control so thatthe print image generated by one of the first and second imagegenerators will be printed on the tape-like print medium first andthereafter the print image generated by the other will be printed on thetape-like print medium.
 2. The tape printing control device according toclaim 1, further comprising a print range setting system capable ofsetting a print range in the lengthwise direction of the tape-like printmedium for at least one of the print images generated by the first andsecond image generators.
 3. The tape printing control device accordingto claim 2, wherein the print controller executes the print control sothat the print image generated by the first image generator will beprinted being repetitively arranged in the print range set by the printrange setting system.
 4. The tape printing control device according toclaim 2, wherein the first image generator generates a print image inwhich an image of the first character string stored in the first memory,being arranged in the width direction of tape-like print medium, isrepetitively arranged in the print range set by the print range settingsystem.
 5. The tape printing control device according to claim 1,further comprising a second memory that stores a second character stringto be printed on the tape-like print medium, wherein the second imagegenerator generates a print image containing both the first characterstring stored in the first memory and the second character string storedin the second memory in one image.
 6. The tape printing control deviceaccording to claim 1, further comprising a size change system thatchanges sizes of the print images generated by the first and secondimage generators.
 7. The tape printing control device according to claim2, further comprising a size change system that changes sizes of theprint images generated by the first and second image generatorscorresponding to the print ranges set by the print range setting system.8. The tape printing control device according to claim 1, furthercomprising a print repetition specifying system that specifies thenumber of printings for the print image generated by the first or secondimage generator.
 9. The tape printing control device according to claim1, wherein order of printing of the print image generated by the firstimage generator and the print image generated by the second imagegenerator in the print controller is settable.
 10. The tape printingcontrol device according to claim 1, wherein the tape printing controldevice executes control for forming a mark allowing discriminationbetween the print images generated by the first and second imagegenerators.
 11. The tape printing control device according to claim 10,wherein the mark is formed by printing.
 12. The tape printing controldevice according to claim 11, wherein the mark is formed by a printedline.
 13. The tape printing control device according to claim 1, whereinthe tape printing control device controls a cutting system so as to makea cut or half cut between the print images generated by the first andsecond image generators.
 14. A computer program product comprisingcomputer-readable instructions that cause a computer to execute: a firststorage step of storing a first character string to be printed on atape-like print medium; a first image generation step of generating aprint image in which the first character string stored by the firststorage step is arranged in a width direction of the tape-like printmedium; a second image generation step of generating a print image inwhich the first character string stored by the first storage step isarranged in a lengthwise direction of the tape-like print medium; and aprint control step of executing print control so that the print imagegenerated by one of the first and second image generation steps will beprinted on the tape-like print medium first and thereafter the printimage generated by the other will be printed on the tape-like like printmedium.
 15. The computer program product according to claim 14, furthercomprising computer-readable instructions that cause the computer toexecute a print range setting step capable of setting a print range inthe lengthwise direction of the tape-like print medium for at least oneof the print images generated by the first and second image generationsteps.
 16. The computer program product according to claim 15, whereinthe print control step executes the print control so that the printimage generated by the first image generation step will be printed beingrepetitively arranged in the print range set by the print range settingstep.
 17. The computer program product according to claim 15, whereinthe first image generation step generates a print image in which animage of the first character string stored by the first storage step,being arranged in the width direction of tape-like print medium, isrepetitively arranged in the print range set by the print range settingstep.
 18. The computer program product according to claim 14, furthercomprising computer-readable instructions that cause the computer toexecute a second storage step of storing a second character string to beprinted on the tape-like print medium, wherein the second imagegeneration step generates a print image containing both the firstcharacter string stored by the first storage step and the secondcharacter string stored by the second storage step in one image.
 19. Thecomputer program product according to claim 14, further comprisingcomputer-readable instructions that cause the computer to execute a sizechange step of changing size of the print image generated by the firstor second image generation step.
 20. The computer program productaccording to claim 15, further comprising computer-readable instructionsthat cause the computer to execute a size change step of changing sizesof the print images generated by the first and second image generationsteps corresponding to the print ranges set by the print range settingstep.
 21. The computer program product according to claim 14, furthercomprising computer-readable instructions that cause the computer toexecute a print repetition specifying step of specifying the number ofprintings for the print image generated by the first or second imagegeneration step.
 22. The computer program product according to claim 14,wherein order of printing of the print image generated by the firstimage generation step and the print image generated by the second imagegeneration step is settable in the print control step.
 23. The computerprogram product according to claim 14, wherein the print control stepfurther executes control for forming a mark allowing discriminationbetween the print images generated by the first and second imagegeneration steps.
 24. The computer program product according to claim23, wherein the mark is formed by printing.
 25. The computer programproduct according to claim 24, wherein the mark is formed by a printedline.
 26. The computer program product according to claim 14, furthercomprising computer-readable instructions that cause the computer toexecute a cutting step of making a cut or half cut between the printimages generated by the first and second image generation steps.